The Dallas Cowboys didn't wind up with Brian Flores as their defensive coordinator. However, they may have gotten the next-best option: Christian Parker.
There's a lot of excitement about Parker's arrival in Dallas, and understandably so. Not only because the Cowboys poached him from their NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles, but he's also quickly worked his way up the NFL coaching ranks.
Parker may not be a buzzy name like Flores or Denver Broncos defensive pass game coordinator/assistant head coach Jim Leonhard, but he's a difference-maker. Just ask Eagles star defensive back Cooper DeJean, who's ostensibly crushed by Dallas' latest move.
Eagles' Cooper DeJean tells Cowboys fans exactly what they want to hear about new DC Christian Parker
DeJean spoke highly of Parker during the Eagles' locker room cleanout day, which is music to Cowboys Nation's ears. It was genuine, too, considering the former didn't know the latter would take his expertise to Philadelphia's most heated foe days later.
"I can say a lot of things about [Parker]," DeJean told reporters. "What he's meant to me and [Quinyon Mitchell], too. We've had a routine of me and Q go meet with him two or three times a week, just to go over the team we're playing, talk about different looks. I don't think I'd be the player I am or I'd have the success that I've had without him. ... Not everybody notices him, and he doesn't get the recognition that I think he should."
Well, DeJean got what he asked for — sort of. Parker got the well-deserved acknowledgment that the Eagles' 2024 second-round pick made a strong case for. Yet, of the 31 other franchises, the Cowboys were the ones to take the advice and spring into action.
As DeJean alluded to, he and fellow Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell have established themselves as high-impact contributor immediately upon entering the league in 2024.
They each earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro First Team nods in their second seasons and were critical to Philly's dominant Super Bowl LIX run. Of course, their talent helps, though Parker put them in positions to succeed.
Seeing DeJean and Mitchell flourish under Parker's guidance should be atop the reasons for optimism in Dallas. The Cowboys have intriguing young secondary pieces with plenty of room for growth, namely 2025 third-round selection Shavon Revel Jr., who garnered first-round buzz before a torn ACL claimed his final year at East Carolina.